South America

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — For weeks, representatives of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his would-be successor, opposition leader Juan Guaidó, have been shuttling back and forth to Barbados trying to agree on a common path out of the country’s prolonged political standoff.

The meetings have been slow-going and shrouded in mystery, with neither side disclosing details. But now Maduro’s supporters are accusing the U.S. of trying to blow up the fragile process.

RIO DE JANEIRO, August 3. /TASS/: Caracas wants to address the UN Security Council to draw their attention to US threats to impose a blockade on Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday.

"All of Venezuela, in a civic-military union, repudiates and rejects the statements of Donald Trump about a supposed quarantine, a supposed blockade," Maduro said adding that Venezuelan seas would remain "free and independent." The Venezuelan president said he had asked the country's ambassador to the United Naitons Samuel Moncada to denounce the US threats to the UN Security Council.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Four inmates allegedly involved in deadly clash between prison gangs have died of asphyxiation while being transferred to a safer lockup, authorities said Wednesday, as families of victims began to bury their relatives.

The Para state public security office said the four were discovered dead when the prison vehicle arrived in the town of Maraba.

They said vehicle had four compartments and was carrying 30 handcuffed inmates who were suspected of involvement in Monday’s clash gangs at the Altamira prison.

31 July 2019; AFP: Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday questioned the credibility of a truth commission that investigated human rights abuses under the country's brutal military dictatorship, suggesting it was politically influenced by the left.

Bolsonaro's comments come a day after he taunted the head of the Brazilian Bar Association over his father, who disappeared during the 1964-85 military regime, saying he had information on what had happened to him.

MANAGUA, July 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Former Salvadoran president Mauricio Funes has been granted Nicaraguan citizenship, according to a decree published on Tuesday in the Nicaraguan government registry.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who began his term in June, vowed to bring Funes back to the country within his first 90 days in office. Bukele’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Funes, who governed El Salvador between 2009 and 2014, is accused of embezzlement and money laundering involving $351 million, Salvadoran prosecutors have said.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — At least 57 prisoners were killed by other inmates during clashes between organized crime groups in the Altamira prison in northern Brazil Monday with 16 of the victims being decapitated, according to prison officials.

Para state prison authorities said a fight erupted around 7 a.m. between the Rio de Janeiro-based Comando Vermelho and a local criminal group known as Comando Classe A.

29 July 2019; AFP: Peru's President Martin Vizcarra on Sunday offered to cut short his term and hold elections to end what he called an institutional crisis.

He said in a speech to Congress this would also involve shortening the term of the legislature. As it stands, general elections are scheduled for July of next year.

Vizcarra's proposal comes with Peru's executive and legislative branches locked in a massive power struggle.

SANTIAGO, July 27 (Xinhua) -- A vehicle from the Chinese brand King Long will become the first natural gas bus to join capital Santiago's public transport system, the Chilean Ministry of Transportation and Communications said Saturday.

The Chinese bus will join Santiago's Metropolitan Mobility Network that integrates subway, rental bikes and suburban trains, and begin circulating in August, the ministry said.

It will serve the Route 104 operated by bus company STP Santiago and connect the communes in eastern Santiago.

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 26. /TASS/: The next BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit due to be held in the Brazilian capital city on November 13-14 will be another step towards strengthening this multilateral format, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday ahead of a meeting with his Brazilian counterpart Ernesto Araujo.

CARACAS, July 27. /TASS/: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has expressed gratitude to specialists from Russia, China, India and Turkey for assisting in developing and restructuring the Latin American country's economy.

"I thank for all the assistance provided to us by China, for advice from experts who help us implement our economic program. I thank Russian experts who maintain a dilaogue and consultations with us. I also thank experts from India, Turkey," Maduro said in a speech broadcast on Periscope.